Signal-operating and collision-preventing apparatus



s. LN'EELY.

I SIGNAL OPERATING AND CDLLISION PREVENTING APPARATUS.

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s. L. NEELY. SIGNAL OPERATING AND COLLISION PREVENTING APPARATUS'.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9.1915. Y

Patented June 17, 1919.

3 SHEET$-SHEET 2.

s. L. NEELY.

SIGNAL OPERATING AND COLLISION-PREVENTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9.1915- Patented 31111617, 1919.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET s.

WWTF@ S'lAFd PATENT FFl@F SAMUEL L. NEELY, 0F LONGTON, KANSAS.

SIGNAL-OPERATING A N' D COLLISION-PREVENTING APPARATUS.'

Application led J une 9, 1915.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, SAMUEL L. NEELY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Long-ton, in the county of Elk and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Signal-Operating andCollision-Preventing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

The invention relates to a signal operating and collision preventingapparatus.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofapparatus for operating signals and preventing head on collisions oftrains and to provide a simple, practical and comparatively inexpensiveapparatus designed principally for use in connection with an automaticelectric block system for trains of a co-pending application andequipped with means for maintaining a proper contact between devicescarried by a locomotive and a conductor rail so that the vertical andlateral vibration of a train will not interfere with the operation ofthe apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter adapted to bring into operation the automatic mechanism of alocomotive when trains approach within the distance of one-half a blockof each other and capable of automatically cutting off the steam to thecylinders of a locomotive and of reducing the pressure in the train pipeand of automatically applying the brakes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a signal operating andcollision preventing apparatus adapted to be readily arranged to enablelocomotives to travel either backward or forward and maintain the properrelation between the circuits, the batteries and the instrumentalitiesto be operated.

Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described. illustrated in the accompai'iying drawings and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may beresorted to without departing from Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 17, i919.

Serial No. 33,077.

the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings Figure l is aV diagrammatic view illustrating thearrangement of the electric circuits,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of a locomotive illustrating theconstruction of a laterally slidable support which carries the contactwheels,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same,

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the mechanism illustrated inFig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of one end of the slidablesupport and the mechanism carried thereby, illustrating the arrangementof the same with relation to the conductor rail,

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one end of the laterally slidablesupport,

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the supporting guide bars,

Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the valve operating means of thelocomotive,

Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views of the grade crossing signal,

Figs. 11 and l2 are detail views of the auxiliary switch mechanism ofthe grade crossing signal.

Like numerals of reference designate correspondingparts in all theligures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention, 1--1 designates angle conductor railsconstructed of suitable metal and located at the inner side of the trackrails 2 as clearly illustrated in Figs. l and 5 of the drawings, but theconductor rails may of course be mounted at the outer sides of the trackrails as will be readily understood. Each conductor rail l which hasvertical and horizontal wings or flanges is secured by bolts 3 or othersuitable fastening devices to insulating bars 4 constructed of wood orother suitable material and shaped to iit the groove between the headand the bottom iiange of the track rail 2. The wooden bars support theconductor rails and insulate the same from the track rails. The heads ofthe bolts 3 are countersunk in the supporting bars 4 to prevent themfrom coming into contact with the web of the track rail. The horizontalflange or wing of the angle conductor rail extends horizontally from thesupporting insulating cured to the rails 2 by means. of' clamps 6-arranged at intervals and composed of two separable sections or members7 and 8 which are connected by a transverse bolt 9. The* section ormember 7 of the clamp is approximately L-shaped and.` consists of asubstantially vert-ical sideprovided'ati its upper endy with aninclinedV rail engaging arm 10 and a horizontal bottom portion 11extending, across the space below thebottomofthe track rail 2 and havinga reduced terminal portion 12 extendingthrough a perforation or openingof the other side or member 8 of the clamp and secured tothe sameby asuitable fastening` device 1'3: suchy asaf pin or key but such fasteningdevice may of course be omittedi asthe sides` or members of the clampare firmly connectedi andfmaintained in engagement by the bolt 9 whichpasses. through the sides or members a short distancebelow the bottomofl the track rail 2yas clearly shown iii-Fig. eof the drawings. Theside or member- ASiconsists of! ai vertical' ban or piece: extendingabove-the adjacent bottom flangeiof the raili and secured; toa block-orfiller ll'eby bolts 1t) on. other suitable fastening devices which arealso countersunk inthe supporting` andiinsulating bar and: spaced fromrthe web ofl the rail buty this is not necessary as the tillen block orpiece ispreferably constructed of wood and the clamp is arranged out ofcontact. with the conductor rail l. The conductor rails andthesupportingv and insulating barsare preferably of the same length' as.the track rails and-the adjacent ends of the conductor railsareelectrically connected by any suit able'means and the terminalportionsof the conductor rails at switches,' crossings and other places wherethere is a break in the conductor rails are designed tobe=beveled orinclined t'o enable the contact wheelsto readily ride on tothesamewithont jar or injury. The clamps forl securing the supporting andEinsulating bars to the=rails are located between the crossties and maybeofv any desired number and they enable thei conductor rails to bereadily applied to a track.

The1conductor wheel 5 is mounted in a fork or frame 1G provided withdepending sides 17 extending',downwardly from atransverseibar or member1S and supporting the axle 19` of thecontact wheel and also aipairofinsulating plates 2O constructed' of suitable material and secured tothe inner faces of thedependingfsides or arms 17 and extendingdownwardly at opposite sides of' the lower portion of the contact wheel5 and adapted'to prevent the same from accidentally coming in contactwith the rails 2 ofthe track. The insulating plates 20 terminate shortof the conductor rail and as 4the construction disclosed in the'present'applicationtobviates the necessity of insulating the track rail, theapparatus may be installed at a relatively low cost. rllhe fork or frame1G is provided with upwardly extending sides or arms 21 slidable inguides 22 of: acentral tube 23which receives a stem 24 of the fork orframel. The guides 22 consist of smalltubesand the stem-2llreceivesacoiled cushioningJ spring 25 interposed between a. suitable stop orproj ection26 ofthe stemi2tandian upper stop -27.which may consist of acap ofthe tube 23. This will enable the coiledspring to cushion theVcontact wheel and will permit the latter to have relaytive verticalmovement so that thevertical vibratory movementr ofl the train. will notinterfere with `the proper electrical contact betweeni thel said wheel'and the conductor rail.

The tube 28 is suitably securedl'to and in` sulated from a horizontalsupport 29 constructed of' any suitable material andiextending across alocomotive or other portionof a train froml one sidetothe other thereofand provided at itsv ends4 with projections 30 which are slidablymounted inV openings 31 of side barsV 32 designedy to be bolted orotherwise securedtotlie journal boxes 33 of a locomotive truck, but=thesupport 29 may be mounted in any other desired manner. The projections30 are slidably mounted in the said openings-31 so that the support 29is capable of, movementI later-ally of a train with respect thereto solthe lateral vibrations of a train willnot carry the contact wheelsbeyond the conductor rails and interfere with the electrical connectionsbetween the sameandithe saidwheels.` Inorder to maintain thelaterallymovable support in proper relation with the conductor rail it isprovided with depending vertically disposed rollers 34: provided attheir upper ends with journals suitably mounted in the support 29-andadapted to rotate to enable tliemvto move frictionlessly along the trackrails. The vertical rollers are adapted to engage the track' ails at theinner sides thereof to limit the lateral movement of the support 29sothat the lateral vibrations .of thet'rain will not carry the supportfar enough in either directionto move the wheels 5 out of. contact withthe conductor. rails.

The vertical rollers which are adapted to operate as a guard to` protectthe contact wheels and to-clear a path in snow or throughotheriobstructionsare designed to be located in advanceof the contactwheels. The support is designed to be provided at each end with threecontact wheels 5 and 5a, the center wheel 5 being connected with thedevices of the locomotive while the end wheels at the opposite sides ofthe support are de signed to be connected by wires 36 and 37 withswitches 38 and 39 for short cireuiting the devices of the locomotive.l/Vhen the locomotive is short circuited by the switches 38 and 39, theconductor rails l are connected electrically and the current may be madeto pass from the conductor rail of one side of the track to theconductor rail of' the opposite side.

The mechanism carried by the locomotive comprises in its construction amotor 40 provided on its shaft with a drum 41 adapted to have woundthereon a flexible connection 42 which may be in the form of a belt orcable or similar device adapted to pass over a pulley 42 of a suitablevalve 43 of a steam or air pipe 44. The flexible connection is providedat its free end with a Weight 45 slidable in a suitable guide 46 toprevent the vibration of the train from swinging the weight and theflexible connection. The weight is adapted to move the exible connectionin one direction when the circuit in which the motor is arranged isdenergized for returning the valve to its normal position and when thecircuit including the said motor 40 is energized, the motor will rotatethe drum 4l and wind the flexible connection thereon and thereby rotatethe pulley 42 and open or close the valve as required. After anoperation of the valve by the motor, the latter may be stopped orstalled but held against retrograde movement by the current so that thevalve will be maintained in such operated position. The motor may, forinstance, be such that its power will be suflicient to operate the valvebut not strong enough to injure the mechanism which will hold the motoragainst movement by the current. The flexible connection 42 is designedto be of a length to move the valve to its motor operated position sothat the valve will remain in such position while the current is on, butit is obvious that various means of either cutting off the current orinterrupting the actuation of the motor irrespective of its size mayalso be employed, such for instance, the opening of the switches 55, 58,63 which control the feeding of the current to said motor 40, and whichwill be more fully described hereinafter. One or more motors may beemployed and the valve if a steam valve is moved to a closed position toprevent steam from being` fed to the cylinders of the locomotive and ifan air brake valve will be moved to an open position to permit an escapeof the air pressure of the train pipe to reduce the pressuresutliciently to effect an emergency or other application of the brakesof the train. Only Aof the battery 52 are one pipe and valve areillustrated in the accompanying drawings as merely a duplication thereofis required to operate the valves of both the steam and air pipes. Alsoinstead of employing a flexible connection and a pulley any othersuitable means may be used for connecting the valve with the motor andfor shutting off the motor actuating current after the operating of thedevices controlling the brake and the power. This may also beaccomplished by operating the switches 55, 58, 63 arranged between themotor and the source of electric energy, and about to be described.

One of the terminals of the motor is connected by a wire 47 with theaxle 48, a brush 49, and an annular contact 50 being employed. Theannular contact may consist of a split ring clamped around the axle orany other desired construction may of course be employed.

The other terminal of the motor is connected by a wire 51 with a battery52. The wire 5l is provided with branches 53 and 54 connected with thetwo poles of the battery 52, a switch 55 being connected with thebranches 53 and 54 so as to electrically connect the wire 5l with eitherof the poles of the battery 52. This construction enables the motorcircuit of the locomotive to be reversed to arrange it to suit an enginetraveling either backward or forward inasmuch as the poles of thebatteries on both trains being always arranged on the same side in theforward direction of the train the polarity will be diif'erent forforwardly running trains in the ease of head-on collisions on the onehand and rear-end collisions on the other hand, while, when thelocomotive positioned on the particular section of track reverses itsdirection of movement the polarity is, of course, not affected while therelative position with relation to the direction of movement is changed.The poles also connected by wires 56 with the contact wheels 5 and withthe conductor rails l by means of the said contact wheels. Switches 58being connected with the wires 56 so that either pole of the battery maybe connected with one of the conductor rails while the other pole of thebattery is connected with the motor. The circuit is completed ashereinafter fully explained when a connection is made between theconductor rail and the track rail.

The battery 52 is arranged in rear of a front battery 60 having itspoles connected by wires 6l and 62 with the angle rails, a switch 63being connected with the wires 6l and 62 so that either angle rail maybe con nected with either of the poles of the battery 60. The wires 61and 62 as clearly illus4 trated in Fig. 2 of the drawings are conVnnected with the wires 56 and thereby connected with the contact wheelsbut separate lLSO connections with the Contact wheels and the conductorrails may of course be employed if" desired In Fig. 2 ofi the drawing,the wires 56, 61 and 62 are shown connected with a single wireleadingto-the tube 23' of the central Vcontact wheel' 5, but in thediagrannnatic view, Fig. 1i, the wires- 56, 61 and 62 are'shown, forconvenience of illus tration, extending directly to the conductor rails1` with which the said contact wheels engage.

The diagramshown inFig. 1 of the drawings illustrates the ar-rangementoi the circuits of two locomotives approaching each other; The trackrails are alternately arranged with respect to the insulation 6/1 whichseparates the adjacent track sections. The insulation occurs at the endsof the blocks and also at a point midway between the same and as it isnecessary for two locomotives to reach the same continuous track sectionin order to operate the devices for automatically applyingthebrales andstopping the train it will be clear that the locomotives have one-halfthe length ofa block inl which tol operate their devices before comingin contact with each other. This will be ample to prevent head oncollisions and it will be -clear that ii' the track sections wereinsulated only at' the ends of a block that' a collision might occur atsuch point whereas with the alternate insulation oi:- the rails this iseffectively prevented. Each conductor rail may be connected by a wire 65with af motor 66 of a signal termed for convenience, a grade crossingsignal7 Fig; 1 illustrating diagram matically the relative arrangementof the train stopping devices in combinationl with such signalingdevices in the case of continuous-as well as inthe case of interruptedconductor rails 1, and the motor is connected by aI wire 67 with anauxiliary switch mechanism 68V of the grade crossing signal at t-heopposite side of the track. The auxiliary switch mechanism of this gradecrossing signal is connected by a wire 69 with a` switch 70 which isconnected by a wire 71 with the other conductor rail. The grade-crossingsignals which form the subject matter of a co-pending application arereverselyl arranged for operation by locomotives traveling in oppositedirections. The motorof the signal circuit may, for instance, be asmallmotor, similar to a toy motor, as explained in the aforesaidapplication, so that only a relatively low current of exceedingly smallvoltage will be found necessary to secure an operation of the motor. Thesaid signal circuit and theV signaling devices may be entirely left outor they may be used for the purpose of operating train blockingorcontrolling means in connection with trains approacliingon the gradecross- 63'. ing tracks. As here shown the signaling and similar devicesare operated from the iront battery 60 of a: train approaching the gradecrossing, while the*v signaling device onithe opposite side of the trackis operated from the train approaching from the other end ot the track.Well known devices may of course, beresortedfto inorder'to increase theworking voltage ofi the battery 60 whenevernecessary. The 1notor66ofeachlgrade crossing signalE is connected by atrain ofy gears 72- witha pinion 7 3 which meshes withi'a vertically movable rack bar 74 and thelatter carries ali switch arm 7 5 which is movable upwardly anddownwardly between upper andilowercont'acts76and 77. lVhen one ofthesignal motor circuits is energized, itcarries the Iswitch arm upwardlyand opens the switches` of the motor circuit of the grade crossingsignal' at the opposite side andi maintainsthe said circuiti open sothat an. operation of the motor of such grade crossing signalll willf beimpossible. The auxiliary switch mechanism of each grade crossingsignal: includes a motor 78 which is connected by atrain of gears 79with a pinion 80 which meshes with a vertically movable rack bar 81'.The rack bar 81L carries a switch arm 82 which is movable between upperand lower'contacts 83 and 84.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings and considering thetrack as run ning east and west, the front`V battery 60 reaches thenorth and south angleA rails through the switches 63 and the contactwheels. This battery has its zinc to the south andthe copper tothe northand'when it is desired to run-the locomotive backward the switches arethrown which will place the battery in harmony with an engine in rearso. as to prevent a collision while running backward; Also when a trainis out as a work train the switches may be used to avoidoperating thesignal mechanism so that a gradecrossmg signalwill not be held too longagainst the public. llihen this is done flagman may be sent out. Thecurrent from the battery 60 flows through the south conductor railthrough the motor in the south grade crossing signal and across thetrack through the switches in the other gade crossing signals and theauxiliary switch mechanisn'i thereof back to the north conductor railand up through the contact wheel to the copper of the battery. AlthoughZinc and copper are referred to as the poles of the battery any othersuitable form-of'battery may of course be employed and insteadof using abattery a dynamo or any other source of' current supply may be utilizedas for instance on electric roads the power of the road may be employedfor operating the signals and the motor of the locomotive. OnY bothtrains the identical poles ofthe rear batteries52 are cormected to themotor 4:0 and are opento ther conductor rails l, while the oppositepoles of the batteries are connected to the said conductor rails so thatonly one connection between the battery 52 and the conductor rails isneccssary for closing the train motor circuits as the return of thecurrent is made through the track rails. The Zinc of the battery 52 isconnected with the contact wheel at the south conductor rail by the wire56. I/Vhenever there is a break in the conductor rails l on switches andcrossings,

as stated above, the conductor rails areA bridged by bridge wires 86,87. The south conductor rail may be connected by the bridge wire 86 withone of the wires 87 which are connected with the upper contact of thegrade crossing signal so that when one of the grade crossing signals isoperated the wires 87 will be connected at the opposite side of thetrack, and the other wire 87 is connected by a bridge wire 88 with thesouth conductor rail of the next block. This connects the southconductor rail of block number one with the south conductor rail ofyblock 2 and the current is permitted to How through the south contactwheel of engine number two to the copper pole of the rear battery. Inthe construction shown in the drawings by way of example the bridgewires 86, 87, 88 are situated on one side of the track only, and areconnected by means of the switch arms ..7 5 when not operating the sidecrossing de; vices; the bridging of the conductor rails of the otherside of the track is effected in this case by the short circuits 36, 87,38, 39 situated upon the supporting plate 29. The current flows from thecopper pole to the Zinc pole and through the motor of engine number twoto the axle and thence to the rail traveling along the north rail andpassing up through the wheel and axle of engine number one to the motorthereof. When the trains approach between the blocks there is no need ofthe bridge wires as the angle rails are continuous. It will be seen thatboth of the motors of the engines are in circuit witheach other and withthe batteries or other source of current supply so that the valve forcontrolling the air brake and the steam will be operated should thelocomotives be permitted to proceed with such circuit closed. The frontbatteries 60 are always in circuit so that a train having the right ofway on a track is in position to operate the motor 66 of the signalingor similar devices situted on both sides of the track, the motor of oneside of the track by operating the switch arms 7 5 and 82 beingsufficient in order to release the signaling or equivalent devices onboth sides of the track. The path of the current will for instance, beas follows: south side of battery 60, south conductor l, wire 65, southmotor 66, wire 67,

`ductor l north, then on second train through short Vcircuits 36, 37 toconductor l south, through battery 52, wire 51 to motor 40,

axle 4:8, track rail 2, to motor 48 of first 80 train, and on this trainback to north side of battery 52. In the case of head-on collisionswhich is represented in Fig. l of the drawing the path of the current isas iollows: From south side of battery 52, south conductor rail l,battery 60 (or short circuits 36, 37), conductor l north to wire 56second train north side, switches 58, 55 by way of rear battery 52 andwire 54 of second train, wire 51, motor 40, axle 48, track rail 2 backto iirst train; axle 48, motor il() of first train, wire 51 back tonorth side of battery 52 first train. This description of circuitsapplies to the case where the connections on both trains are exactly thesame so that the train controlling devices or1 two trains entering thesame block will be automatically operated; but it is obvious that if thetrain stopping device of an approaching train is to be operated `by theengineers of said trains the several devices may be differentlyconnected. The motors 40 may be cut out after a certain time byautomatic means or they may be cut out by the engineer operating theswitches. The duration of the operation of the signaling or similardevices arranged on both sides of the track in the case of trainsretained on the corresponding block by the train stopping device of thisinvention, depends upon the construction of the motors 66 and 78 and oftheir motion-transmitting devices. The construction may of course, besuch that such signaling or similar devices are only cut out by handafter having been operated by the safety devices of my invention.

In this manner it is immaterial whether an engineer be careless, dead orotherwise incapacitated the motor for controlling the air brake and thesteam valve will be automatically operated and will effectively preventtwo trains from colliding.

What is claimed is l. In an apparatus of the class described including avalve having a pulley, a motor provided with a drum, a flexibleconnection provided at one end with a weight and extending over thepulley and arranged to be wound around the drum for operating the valveand a motor circuit including a source of current supply, a track-frailand a conductor Irail.

.2. In a device of the class described a movable supporting frame, a`motor on said frame, a railroad track, a source of electric energyonsaid frame, a conductor rail, electric conducting` mea-ns on saidframe and movable along said rail, a transverse aXle, electricalconnecting means between said 10 motor ,and one pole of vthe source ofelectrie energy, electric connectionsbetween the other pole of -saidsource and said motor, and electric connections between said motor andsaid axle.

In testimony whereof I afiX .-my signature 15 -Gopies of this patent maybe obtained for ve cents each, .by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents, Washington, D, C.

